- Marcel Proust

Fools fear fate. The hero overcomes it. Be bold! Be fearless! Be free! Awake! Arise! and march forward.

- Yesudian

We can and are changing the direction of the present environmental crisis. We can heal our personal and global traumas. We can and will bring peace to our world. We must simply be willing to acknowledge what is happening on our planet, and begin, without denial, to take personal responsibility for the transformational process. We can no longer afford the comfortable illusion that our problems are not that bad, or that they will simply go away by themselves. All of us collectively must be willing to acknowledge and embrace the reality of what we have created, the pain of what we have destroyed, and the fact that it is not too late to change our direction.

Don’t give up thinking things are so bad they can’t be changed, or there is nothing you can do to make a difference. Don’t take on that common “cynical edge” in your attitude toward life. Please remember, that every effort, no matter how small or insignificant it may appear to be, is always a welcome addition to the positive momentum we are collectively generating. We each play our part in whatever way we can, and whatever effort one makes is a valid and welcome part of the whole. The “critical mass” of awakened people it takes to be able to change our world is growing larger every day.

We desperately need people courageous enough to embrace a victorious personal and global vision. We need those with the vision to see through the horrors of our global situation and instead of giving up or becoming cynical are able to retain the ability to inspire others toward the positive potentials we can create. We need those who hold the attitude and vision of victory, rather than accepting the so-called inevitable future of pain and destruction. We need to go forth as a team, seeing and doing without denial, the work that is required of us. Any amount of denial will continue to perpetuate ecological destruction.

Remember, the best way to teach is by example. The first step always begins with ourselves. Taking responsibility for our own unhealthy habits and attitudes on a personal level is the best place to start. Take one step at a time. Do what you are capable of doing. Be gentle and patient with yourself and others.

Step by step, hand in hand, heart to heart, we will make it; our planet will make it. Together we will bring forth the necessary changes in our emotional and environmental attitudes that will help transform our world into a healthy place to live. It will take faith, hope, vision, and a concerted effort from every one of us, but we will do it! Open your heart and your mind to infinite, creative possibilities, and let’s create a harmonious journey into a cooperative, clean, and peaceful future!

- Robert F. Kennedy

Most of us, even those who choose to smoke, are aware of the serious health dangers related to smoking cigarettes. Smoking has killed more people in the United States alone than the number of Americans killed in battle or who died of war-related diseases in all wars ever fought by this nation. Tobacco kills; we have known this for generations. Amazingly enough, this knowledge has not stopped the cigarette habit from becoming an actual epidemic, one which happens to be growing at 2.1 percent per year. This is faster than the growth of our world population! Over 1 billion people now smoke, consuming about 5 trillion cigarettes per year (an average of more than one-half pack per person per day).

It has long been known that tobacco causes more death and suffering among adults than any other toxic material in our environment. William Chandler, in his booklet Banishing Tobacco published by the Worldwatch Institute, states, “No avoidable condition claims more adult lives than tobacco addiction. Between 2 million and 2.5 million smokers die worldwide each year from heart disease, lung cancer, and emphysema – smokers’ disease, as it is called – caused by their addiction. Additional thousands die in fires caused by cigarettes and from cancers caused by tobacco consumed as snuff or chew. Almost one-fifth of all U.S. deaths can be traced to cigarette smoke.” In some developing countries, the epidemic of smoking-related disease is already of such magnitude as to rival even infectious disease or malnutrition as a public health problem.

In addition to nicotine, which is highly addictive, cigarette smoke contains hundreds of mutagens, carcinogens and roughly 4,000 other chemical compounds, including carbon monoxide and radioactive polonium. Many of these chemicals are used in the processing of the tobacco and in the cigarette paper. These chemicals attack the lungs and circulate throughout the bloodstream, causing clogging of the arteries and cancer in the internal organs. Fifteen to 30 percent of all heart attacks in the U.S. are caused by smoking. Fortunately however, the risk of heart attacks does diminish rapidly in ex-smokers, approaching that of nonsmokers within one year after they quit.

What about those who choose not to smoke but are still assaulted by other people’s second-hand cigarette smoke? Consider the fact that a smoker inhales only 4 percent of the total smoke produced by a cigarette. The other 96 percent pollutes the air, the environment, and other people’s bodies with 50 times the amount of carcinogens than the smoker inhaled. It is now thought that involuntary exposure to cigarette smoke causes more cancer deaths than any other pollutant in our environment. A former U.S. Surgeon General reported evidence that non-smokers can be prone to lung disease simply from being exposed to secondhand smoke. Those who must inhale the smoke of others’ cigarettes are perhaps 3 times more likely to die of lung cancer than they would normally be otherwise. Children with parents who smoke experience higher rates of respiratory illness, including colds, influenza, bronchitis, asthma, and pneumonia. It has also been found that parents who smoke may be responsible for retarding the physical and intellectual development of their children by exposing them to the secondhand smoke of their dangerous habit.

William Chandler also points out, “…Nor have governments assumed their traditional role in protecting public health by acting decisively to reduce tobacco’s threat. They move swiftly to remove from the market unsafe medicines. They conduct paramilitary operations to destroy fields of marijuana or opium, but not tobacco, a far deadlier crop. They pay for expensive cleanup operations to remove toxic chemicals from the human environment. But not only do they fail to take these actions for tobacco, which is often more deadly to users and innocent – or passive – victims, they even support efforts to stabilize the tobacco industry. This sad state of affairs is possible both because the tobacco industry itself is so strong and because the opposition to tobacco is so weak. Health advocates in general have not insisted that governments take appropriate action. They have relied instead on informational programs alone to solve the problem.”

Whose side is our government on? Our elected officials make pronouncements, organize conferences, and publicize research about the dangers of tobacco, while the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has supported tobacco prices with nearly $5 billion in loans to tobacco growers! The USDA also promotes the tobacco industry by aiding them with crop inspection, marketing news, and research services. These services and handling of the loans cost taxpayers $54 million in 1978. In 1979, over $339 million of our tax money was allocated by our elected officials for USDA tobacco programs, which include price supports, export assistance to the Third World, and sending tobacco to other countries under the heading of “food aid.” In addition, federal grants are made to international agencies that encourage tobacco production. Our government, using our tax dollars, has helped make tobacco products, and U.S. tobacco technology a major American export to less developed countries. At a time when they are striving for political and economic independence, the developing nations are entering into a new form of life-threatening bondage – addiction to smoking.

Very basically, this means that the hard-earned tax dollars of non-smokers and smokers alike are literally subsidizing the growth of the tobacco industry, perpetuating worldwide cigarette addiction and helping to expand the quantity of noxious second-hand smoke that all of us are continually being poisoned by!

Not only does smoking tobacco have a detrimental effect upon our health and the environment, but so does growing and producing it. Tobacco production is ecologically unsound for a number of reasons. It diverts labor from more important crops at crucial times. It demands resources, such as firewood used in “flue-curing,” that Third World countries cannot afford to waste. Each year, approximately 20,000 square miles of forest land are cut down for use as fuel for curing the tobacco. Furthermore, when tobacco is raised as a crop, it depletes nitrogen from the soil in which it was grown 11 times more than a food crop. Other valuable nutrients are also depleted from the soil — much more than would take place from growing food. In numerous Third World countries, land is used for tobacco which could well be used to grow food! It is estimated that if the land now being used for raising tobacco were planted with grain it would be sufficient to feed 10 to 20 million people. What has happened to our priorities?

The public knows the dangers of smoking cigarettes. Nevertheless, large numbers of people still choose to start smoking while others continue the habit. Besides the fact that nicotine is as highly addictive as heroine, there seem to be other factors behind the motivation to smoke.

Multi-national tobacco companies entice local governments of Third World countries by promising them an array of economic benefits for encouraging tobacco production. As a result of the extensive marketing and advertising efforts of large tobacco conglomerates, the Third World has acquired a taste for cigarettes. Faced with diminishing sales in developed countries, the tobacco industry has identified the people of the Third World as a vast untapped market for their deadly product. To create a demand for cigarettes, an aggressive advertising campaign – in most cases unhindered by restrictions – has been launched to convince less privileged consumers in Third World countries that smoking enhances virility, symbolizes success, and provides tasty refreshment. The ideas and copy for these ads, tailored to exploit the world’s less privileged, are often developed here in the U.S. Once again, selfish interests create profit for the few at the expense of many.

Look at the images portrayed by the media. Notice the ever-present, insidious advertising used by the tobacco industry to “push” their murderous product. The tobacco industry wages expensive and brilliant media warfare, clouding our minds to the grim facts of nicotine addiction. They consciously target their audience so as to start them on the habit as young as possible. The clever “social engineering” of the tobacco industry has created generations of addicts and has cost millions of lives. Have you noticed that most images portrayed in cigarette advertisements depict people who are laughing, having fun, and are in great demand by the opposite sex? What about that macho, rugged, all-American guy, the Marlboro Man?

The movie industry has not helped to curb the smoking epidemic. They are continually producing motion pictures casting actors and actresses who portray cool, sexy, sophisticated, intelligent, mysterious, and rough and tough characters, a number of which happen to smoke.

It is amazing that so many of the habits we have come to accept as being a normal part of our daily lives are those which can have such detrimental effects upon our own personal health, the health of others around us, and the environment we live in. It is time to open our eyes to this fact and take responsibility!

Things You Can Do To Make A Difference:

* Smoking is no less than a “socially acceptable form of suicide.” If you smoke, you may want to re-evaluate the personal as well as the environmental impact of that choice. Consider making changes, not only for yourself, but for everyone and everything concerned.

* If you live with a loved one who smokes, when and if it is appropriate, gently remind and urge them to consider the effects of what they are doing. Help support them, if they are willing, to make the necessary changes. If they are unwilling to change, consider asking them to smoke outside, so as to not expose others to the dangers of their habit.

* We must insist that our politicians help tobacco farmers kick the crop without suffering economic penalties.

* Support all legislative efforts for non-smokers’ rights in all public areas. If people choose to smoke at the expense of their own health, it is their business. However, it becomes a concern when those who choose not to smoke are exposed to the dangers of that addiction also.

* Television has been free of tobacco advertising since the 1970s. It is time for magazines to kick the habit and be liberated from their dependency on ads from the world’s biggest drug pushers. Write to various magazines to express your dissatisfaction with the ad space they sell to cigarette companies. If you feel strongly enough about this issue, you may even choose to cancel your subscription with a letter, telling the publishers why you chose to do so.

For Further Information Contact:

* Americans For Nonsmokers’ Rights – 2530 San Pablo Ave. Suite J, Berkeley, CA 94702 (415) 841-3032. ANR is a national non-profit public interest organization committed to protecting the rights of nonsmokers to smoke-free air.

* Action On Smoking And Health (ASH) – 2013 H St. NW, Washington D.C., 20006 (202) 659-4310. ASH is national tax-exempt organization solely concerned with the problems of smoking. It serves as the legal action arm of the antismoking community.

* Doctors Ought To Care (DOC Tobacco Archive And International Resource Center) – 5510 Greenbriar, Houston, TX 77005 713-798-7729. DOC is international non-profit organization to educate the public, especially young people, in refreshing ways about the major preventable causes of poor health and high medical costs. Write or call for information or membership.

* Smokefree Educational Services - 375 South End Ave. Suite 32F, New York, NY 10280 (212) 912-0960. Fighting for the right to live and work in a smoke-free environment and to prevent tobacco companies from targeting children.

* Stop Teenage Addiction To Tobacco (STAT) – 121 Lyman St. #210, Springfield, MA 01103 (413) 732-7828. STAT is a non-profit organization committed to reducing tobacco use among children and adolescents.

* American Cancer Society – 1599 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, GA, 30329-4251 (800) ACS-2345. Offers information about tobacco-related cancers, smoking cessation programs, and epidemiological factors related to smoking.

* American Lung Association – 1740 Broadway, New York, NY 10019 (212) 315-8700. Offers information about tobacco-related chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, smoking and pregnancy, and smoking cessation programs.

* Booklets:Worldwatch Paper #68, Banishing Tobacco, by William U. Chandler andWorldwatch Paper #18, Cutting Tobacco’s Toll, by Erik Eckholm. Both of these booklets are published by and available from Worldwatch Institute, 1776 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20036. Booklets are $4 each.

- The Humane Society of the United States

Be aware of the fact that many of the common products we buy and use everyday contribute to animal suffering, and even to the extinction of species (as in the case of ivory and reptile skins). These products include cosmetics, deodorants, shampoos, household cleaning products, shoes, purses, and jewelry.

Commercial businesses use animals for testing household and industrial products, as well as cosmetics and personal care products. It is likely that the shampoo, cosmetics, and even the drain and oven cleaner you use were force-fed to or dropped into the eyes of fully-conscious rabbits, guinea pigs, dogs, or other animals. Cosmetic and household product manufacturers are responsible for blinding and poisoning millions of animals each year to determine the human “safety” factor of their products.

The powerful cosmetics industry is responsible for horrendous crimes against the animal kingdom. Two of the most common animal testing procedures used are the LD/50 and the Draize test. The LD/50 test (lethal dosage test) is a toxicity test designed to induce death in 50 percent of the animals tested to determine what constitutes a lethal dose of any given product. In most tests, enormous quantities of each test substance are fed to the animals in their food, or more commonly are force-fed by stomach tube. In other instances, the animals are forced to inhale a particular substance. These tests obviously produce symptoms of poisoning from which the animals suffer intensely and die. If the animals do not die by poisoning, they are killed at the end of the testing period which normally lasts two weeks. This test is considered by scientists to be highly unreliable for predicting the human lethal dose.

The Draize test is used to measure the skin and eye irritancy of cosmetics and numerous other products. In this test, rabbits are restrained in stocks and the test substance is placed in one eye of each rabbit. Rabbits are used in this test because they have no tear ducts which, as with humans, would cause tears to wash the substance from the eyes. Some of the results caused by this test are extreme ulceration, severe swelling and inflammation, hemorrhage of the eyeball, and blindness. This test has been criticized by scientists as unreliable, having little relevance to human safety.

Other toxicity tests used by the cosmetics industry involve the application of the test substance to portions of the animals’ bodies from which the fur has been shaved and the skin abraded. Inhalation tests are also common; immobilized animals are put in exposure chambers and are repeatedly sprayed around the head and body with the test substance.

Although the cosmetic industry is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the FDA does not require the use of animals for the tests. Nowhere in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or in the regulations set forth by the FDA is there a requirement for the LD/50 or the Draize tests. As a matter of fact, there is no law requiring animal tests for cosmetics and household products! The cosmetic industry itself has chosen to use animals for testing to limit their liability to customers in the event of a lawsuit. Even with extensive animal testing, drain cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners, bleaches, hair dye, and a host of other cosmetic and household products can still blind or poison you if you swallow them or get them into your eyes. In other words, animal testing accomplishes absolutely nothing aside from limiting a company’s liability in case of a lawsuit, and validating the obvious fact that these toxic products are dangerous for humans and for the animals who suffered from them!

It is a known fact that there are many alternative technologies which could easily replace living animals in research and testing. These alternatives include the use of cell cultures (such as corneal and skin tissue cultures), in vitro (test tube) studies, chemical tests, the use of human skin (volunteers), and sophisticated computer and mathematical modeling. Not only have these non-animal testing alternatives proven to be more reliable and effective than living animals, but they are less expensive as well. Another humane alternative for these companies would be to utilize “known safe” ingredients (which now number over 600 hundred) for developing their products instead of experimenting with new chemical combinations which are potentially toxic and hazardous.

We must realize this inhumane treatment of the animal kingdom goes on every day. These are merely a few samples of the actual horrors taking place in product testing labs; the list goes on and on. We need to take a firm stand against such blatant and appalling insensitivity to life. As we become more aware of what actually goes on behind the scenes, and more of us choose to stop supporting animal suffering, then we will be on our way to bringing inhumane animal testing and research to a long overdue and welcome end. Our greatest power for creating positive change will be found in the choices we make every time we shop and purchase products. We must also voice our complaints to those who still test their products on animals.

A growing number of socially-responsible manufacturers have recognized the cruelty of animal testing. Over one hundred manufacturers now offer cosmetics, personal care products, and household products not tested on animals. Examples of success include Estee Lauder, widely recognized as the largest retailer of department store cosmetics, has permanently stopped testing its products on animals. This includes all Estee Lauder companies: Clinique, Aramis, and Prescriptives, Inc. Mary Kay Cosmetics declared a moratorium on all animal testing in response to public concern. Avon, Revlon, Benetton, and Christian Dior have also stopped testing their products on animals. Thanks to the animal rights organizations who worked so hard for these changes, and thanks to those who exercised the power of their consumer choices!

Things You Can Do To Make A Difference:

* Choose not to support companies who test their products on animals or are involved directly or indirectly with the pain and/or destruction of any species. Make it a point not to buy any cosmetics, personal hygiene, or household products produced by companies that test their products on animals. Let the stores who sell them and the manufacturers of those products know why your making this choice! There are growing numbers of high-quality alternative products on the market now. Natural food stores usually stock large selections of “cruelty-free” personal care products, household products, and cosmetics.

* Experiment with making your own homemade cosmetics and lotions. This is fun, personally empowering, and a lot less expensive! There are numerous books on this subject available. An excellent book is Jeanne Rose’s Herbal Body Book, The Herbal Way To Natural Beauty And Health For Men And Women, by Jeanne Rose, published by Grosset and Dunlap, New York.

For Further Information Contact:

*Beauty Without Cruelty – 175 West 12th St., Suite 16-G, New York, NY 10011 (212) 989-8073. Send $2 and a business size self-addressed stamped envelope for a “cruelty free” list of companies who sell products which are not tested on animals.

*People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals (PETA) – P.O. Box 42516, Washington, D.C. 20015-0516 (301) 770-7444. PETA is the nation’s largest animal rights group. PETA believes that animals are not ours to eat, wear, or experiment on.

*In Defense Of Animals – 816 West Francisco Blvd., San Rafael, CA 94901 (415) 453-9984 / East Coast Representative (513) 793-2146.

*United Action For Animals (UAA) – 205 East 42nd St., New York, NY 10017 (212) 983-5315 / (800) 473- 5315.

* The Humane Society of the United States – 2100 L Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20037 (202) 452-1100. The primary concern of the HSUS is the prevention of cruelty to all living creatures.

* Eco Bella – Offers high-quality and high-integrity household products, cosmetics, fragrances, pet products, etc., which have not been tested on animals, do not contain animal by-products or milk by-products, and have minimal impact on the environment. They donate 10 percent of the profits from their catalog to animal and environmental protection organizations. For a free catalog write to: Eco Bella, Provost Square Suite 602, Caldwell, NJ 07006 (800) 888-5320 / In New Jersey call: 226-5799.

*The Compassionate Consumer – P.O. Box 27, Jericho, NY 11753. Offers a catalog containing over 250 cruelty-free, environmentally safe, all natural products including skin care items, household cleaners, baby products, cruelty-free gift baskets, and leather substitutes. In addition, 5 percent of your purchases from their catalog will be donated to the animal rights, animal shelter, or environmental protection group of your choice. Send 1$ for a catalog to the above address.

*Citizens To End Animal Suffering And Exploitation – P.O. Box 44-456 Somerville, MA 02144 (617) 628-9030. Offers a twenty-eight page “Guide to Compassionate Living.” An extensive list of cruelty-free household cleaners, baby care products, first aid, personal care products, etc., not tested on animals.

“I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of the whole human being.”

- Abraham Lincoln

The wild, cruel beast is not behind the bars of the cage. He is in front of it.

- Axel Munthe

Animal research and testing is a hideous crime that perpetuates the inhumane treatment, suffering, and death of countless innocent animals. Tens of millions of animals die each year from induced diseases, poisoning from toxic substances, irradiation, suffocation, being scalded, burned or baked alive, having bones crunched and broken, battering, being blasted by explosives, surgical experiments (often performed without anesthesia), and being driven insane from psychological and/or physical torture. As horrifying as it may sound, this is what goes on behind the scenes, and all of it is in the name of “scientific research.”

Veterinary-based research (vivisection) can include invasive or non-invasive studies. Invasive research consists of any type of cutting, puncturing, or injection into the living body of the animal. It can also include surgery, dissection, injection of human diseases to create “animal models” of those diseases, or the forcing of noxious foods or substances into the body openings. Non-invasive experiments can consist of psychological testing where mental stress or anxiety are inflicted, or experiments that deprive the animal of water, food, oxygen, or other necessities of life.

Universities, hospitals, and private laboratories use many species of animals, including primates, dogs, cats, rabbits, reptiles, pigs, goats, sheep, birds, fish, dolphins, and even horses. Mice and rats are the most widely used animals in biomedical research. Government agencies use various animals for toxicity testing, radiation testing, and space program studies. The military uses animals for testing the effects of various weapons and explosives! An estimated 100 million animals per year are used for research in the United States alone. Their use is increasing at about 6 percent per year worldwide.

The multi-billion dollar biomedical research industry states that every animal experiment is aimed at curing human or animal diseases. The industry has done quite a good job of making the media, the public, and the government believe that animal research must continue unimpeded, or else public health will deteriorate. They defend their practices by telling the public that they will never find cures for debilitating illnesses without vivisection. It is interesting to note, in light of these claims, that medical science has had limited success in treating those illnesses, and even that limited success has had little to do with animal experimentation. Medical history clearly shows that the strides made in treating human diseases have come from working directly with human patients.

Growing numbers of people in the animal protection/anti-vivisection movement hold the strong belief that the grotesque torture and slaughter of animals which scientists call “research,” has nothing to do with human or animal health and well-being. It is a known fact that there are many alternative technologies which could easily replace living animals in research and testing. Not only have these non-animal testing alternatives proven to be more reliable and effective than living animals, but they are also less expensive as well. The claims that medical progress has been made through animal experiments are turning out to be highly questionable.

Animal research involves the attempt to artificially induce and recreate a specific condition or human disease in a non-human animal. The aim is to apply the data gained from this research to conditions or diseases that exist in human beings. The basic assumption of those who test drugs on animals is that if the drug tested on an animal is dangerous for the animal, then it will also be dangerous for humans. If a drug is found safe for the animal, then it must be safe for humans. There are some very inaccurate and dangerous flaws to be found in this way of thinking. For example, there have been far too many incidents where a drug, having been “thoroughly tested” on animals and found to be “safe,” has ended up injuring and even causing death in human beings. For instance, thalidomide (a tranquilizer) caused over 10,000 birth defects, and DES (diethylstilboestrol), which was used to help prevent miscarriage, caused cancer and birth defects. Azauracil, a potential anti-cancer drug, was well-tolerated by dogs and monkeys with no signs of toxicity to the nervous system. But at one-twentieth the dose, almost all human patients developed central nervous system disorders including coma, lethargy, mental disorientation, muscle weakness, and hallucinations. Unfortunately, the list goes on.

It is well known that various species can react differently to any given chemical substance, drug, or treatment. For instance;aspirin and tylenol can kill cats. Penicillin kills guinea pigs. PCP is an animal tranquilizer, but causes the exact opposite reaction in humans. Digitalis dangerously raises the blood pressure in dogs. Morphine is fatal to dogs. A monkey can ingest an amount of strychnine which could be fatal to a human. The list goes on.

More and more information is surfacing, pointing clearly to the fact that animal testing, aside from being totally inhumane, is simply not a valid methodology. The results and data gained from animal research on one type of animal cannot even be applied to other types of animals, let alone to humans, because we are all biologically, histologically, and psychologically different!

Much of the animal research done today is used to create new drugs to combat illness. Because the medical community knows that these drugs may have dangerous side effects, they need to determine the dangerous effects the drugs could produce by testing them on animals. Drug and technology-oriented health care go hand in hand with the cruel practice of animal testing and vivisection.

We must keep in mind that the drugs produced by medical science (and tested on animals) are “consumer products,” and we have the right to question them just as we would any other product! We need to be extremely careful of what we put into our bodies in the name of healing and health. Four million people per year are hospitalized for side effects caused by “thoroughly tested” drugs; of those, up to 500,000 die from the so-called “cures,” not from the disease!

We do not need to accept the claims that animal research is necessary for medical advancement. It is time to get away from the “animal model” and study disease at its source, so that we can stop the animal testing nightmare. We must learn to take personal responsibility for our health, rather than ignoring it and then looking to doctors and drugs for easy cures and “techno-fix” solutions when we become ill.

Prevention will always be the true key to good health! Let us learn to prevent and cure disease and discomfort by way of correcting destructive lifestyles, lowering stress, improving our eating habits and food choices, changing our attitudes toward life, and working to eliminate environmental toxins that shorten our lives. (Note: It has been well established that many degenerative diseases can be reversed simply by removing animal protein and fat from one’s diet, and through fasting for short periods of time under the supervision of a holistic doctor.)

Things You Can Do To Make A Difference:

* Educate yourself and your family about the possible benefits to be obtained from alternative, non-toxic, non-invasive methods of healing the body and mind. Learn to utilize natural herbs, homeopathic preparations, flower essences, massage therapy, psychology (counseling), accupressure and acupuncture, chiropractic work, dietary changes (nutrition), and attitude changes to heal the body and mind. In most towns and cities you will find well-trained, dedicated healers who specialize in many modalities of holistic healing. If we truly want to heal ourselves, the support will be there.

* There are herbal alternatives for most all allopathic medications (prescriptions). Herbal formulas are available at your local health food store for almost any complaint you might have. (Note: This chapter is not intended to diagnose or prescribe in any way, nor is it meant to be a substitute for professional medical help. Consult a holistic medical doctor for health problems.)

For Further Information Contact:

*People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals (PETA) – P.O. Box 42516, Washington, D.C. 20015-0516 (301) 770-7444. PETA is the nation’s largest animal rights group. They believe that animals are not ours to eat, wear, or experiment on.

* American Anti-Vivisection Society – 801 Old York Road, Suite 204, Jenkintown, PA 19046 (215) 887-0816. AA-VS is a national, non-profit animal rights organization dedicated to the elimination of animal use in research, testing, and education.

* United Action For Animals (UAA), Inc. – 205 East 42nd St., New York, NY 10017 (212) 983-5315 / (800) 473-5315. The UAA is a non-profit corporation founded to end the shocking and tragic waste of billions of animal lives and taxpayer dollars on duplicative, inconclusive, and wasteful animal experiments.

*In Defense Of Animals (IDA) – National office: 816 West Francisco Blvd., San Rafael, CA 94901 (415) 453-9984. East Coast Representative (513) 793-2146. IDA is a national, non-profit organization committed to ending the institutionalized abuse of animals by defending their rights, welfare, and habitat.

*Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine – P.O. Box 6322, Washington, D.C. 20015 (202) 686-2210. Provides information on preventative health care and promotes the use of alternatives to animals in medical training.

* The Animal’s Voice Magazine – P.O. Box 341347 Los Angeles, CA 90034 (800) 82-VOICE. The Animal’s Voice magazine is a remarkable high-quality publication dedicated to all aspects of animal protection. It is highly recommended for its concentrated content of enlightening information, “graphically awakening” photographs, and subject-related sources and products.

* The Animal’s Agenda Magazine – 456 Monroe Turnpike, Monroe, CT 06468 (203) 452-0446 / (800) 825-0061 (for subscription information). An excellent resource for a wide range of critical animal related issues.

* The Cruel Deception, by Robert Sharpe – This book offers a very critical perspective on the use of animals in research, testing, and education. It presents the case that animal experiments have little impact on human health advances. Available from the American Anti-Vivisection Society (address given above).

* Animal Liberation: A New Ethics For Our Treatment Of Animals, by Peter Singer, Avon Paperback Books, New York, 1977. Available from both United Action For Animals and The American Anti-Vivisection Society (addresses given above).

“The world is finally becoming globally aware that exponential resource usage in combination with finite reserves is a recipe that ensures our great grandchildren won’t be born.”

We can’t really measure what potential there ultimately is in our resource base because technology facilitates such a vastly increased utility. As Buckminster Fuller pointed out in “Critical Path”, pg xxiii:

“A one-quarter ton communications satellite is now outperforming the previously used 175,000 tons of transatlantic copper cables, with a 700,000 fold reduction in system-equipment weight providing greater message-carrying capacity and transmission fidelity, as well as using vastly fewer kilowatts of operational energy.”

But what we can measure is how fast our existing resources are being used up at the current rate of efficiency. We can calculate how fast resources critical to the eco-system such as wetlands, and the old-growth forests and the rainforests are disappearing, etc. And obviously we need to restructure our society to use these resources in a more sustainable fashion or we are in serious trouble. The truly frustrating thing about this issue is that we are not just talking about maintaining our survival, but about realizing our true potential. Again, as Buckminster Fuller puts it in Critical Path”, pg. xxv:

“Neither the great political and financial power structures of the world, nor the specialization-blinded professionals, nor the population in general realize that sum-totally the omni-engineering-integrable, invisible revolution in the metallurgical, chemical, and electronic arts now makes it possible to do so much more with ever fewer pounds and volumes of material, ergs of energy, and seconds of time per given technological funciton that it is now highly feasible to take care of everybody on Earth at a ‘higher standard of living than any have ever known.’”

I’d just chalk it up to harsh lessons in sensitive dependence on initial conditions. It doesn’t take much to upset the dynamic equilibrium and bring about catastrophic effects, therefore we should learn to walk softly and err on the side of caution.

“Yet the more we succeed in numbing ourselves to our deepest human responses, the more powerless, futile and isolated we feel. The more we avoid our pain for the world, the more disconnected we become and we repress our own painful feelings by filtering out the information that provokes them. Yet it is the very information, painful though it may be, that cries out for our response.”

- John Robbins

Most of us intuitively trust that progress is a sign of increasing order in our lives, of an increased ability to control our immediate environment and its effects upon us, but what many of us do not realize is that the progress of civilization and the control of our immediate environment is not a free ride that is guaranteed to by the government.

It is a fundamental law of the universe that closed systems, or those that do not exchange appreciable amounts of energy with their surrounding environment, are governed by what is called the law of entropy. This principle of nature guarantees that everything around you is continually becoming more disorderly. Entropy is considered by some to be the supreme law of life, since it controls every aspect of what we do. Since energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only transformed from one configuration to another, the irreversible arrow of entropy guarantees that whatever energy you have available for useful work will, if used, be transformed into a state that is going to be less usable. Life, it would seem, is always moving from being useful to being useless.

But all of our efforts to bring about the progress of civilization have, and most certainly will continue, to ultimately bring about control of our environment and a more perfectly ordered society. We feel instinctively driven toward such goals, and it is not somehow bad or wrong to want such things, but a new consideration is beginning to emerge in our awareness: At our present level of technological prowess we do not have an unlimited supply of resources to continually draw upon. Our planet does not exchange an appreciable amount of material with the rest of the solar system, so any reasonable person must admit that we live in an enclosed system. Because of this our present rate of growth which is being propelled by a rapid consumption of fossil fuels cannot be sustained beyond another few hundred years, probably even less. Therefore, within our enclosed system (planet), all of our efforts towards progress will ultimately come to naught unless we quickly begin to reorient our present world paradigm to include a consideration of entropy.

Up to now the vast majority of us have managed to be blissfully unconcerned about the damage we are doing to our system. The world seemed such a big place, and we spent so many years fighting the virtually omnipotent forces of nature for our survival that it seemed impossible that us tiny little human beings could possibly upset the balance of nature. Thus we managed to get away with dumping millions of tons of toxic waste into our oceans and streams, managed to cut down thousands of square kilometers of rainforests and pollute the atmosphere with the byproducts of fossil fuel consumption while the greenhouse effect looms imminent. We even managed to create on a massive scale what we thought was an innocuous little molecule to use in our refrigeration and propellant systems, chlorofluorocarbon, that once released into the atmosphere has apparently become capable of destroying the ozone layer at a frightening rate. (While to some this is still controversial, it is now accepted by many scientists that certain models indisputably show that each molecule of chlorofluorocarbon that is released into the atmosphere is capable of catalytically facilitating the reduction of approximately 100,000 molecules of ozone, O₃, to molecules of molecular oxygen, O₂. This goes a long way towards explaining the apparent hole in the ozone layer now being measured by satellites in the Antarctic.) There are even some estimates, based on the amount of CFCs that have already been released but have not yet dispersed into the upper atmosphere, that we are already irreversibly committed to a minimum 30% loss in the ozone layer. One begins to wonder if our technological progress is ultimately going to bring about the downfall of our species, or, as Jeremy Rifkin explains, if we are even biologically suited to living in the world we have created:

“The health prospects for the immediate future are grim. Homo sapiens was not made for a highly industrialized petrochemical environment. Our anatomy has not changed since human beings first appeared on earth several million years ago. We were biologically designed for a hunter-gatherer existence. Each successive stage of economic and social development has only increased the physiological strains on the human being and further eroded our chances for long-range survival as a species.”

Painfully aware of these issues now, as little as thirty years ago when the industrial age was at its peak we seemed arrogantly unconcerned with the damage we were doing. But the law of entropy must ultimately prevail, and now we must face the facts: Because of the excessive use of nonrenewable energy sources, because of the inefficient manner in which we institute and apply our technological capabilities, and because of our predisposition toward short-term profitability over the long-term viability of our ecosystem, we are presently creating small pockets of order, such as the building of our cities and towns, in one part of the system only at the expense of creating a dangerously unnecessary corresponding disorder in the rest of the system. The average home, for example, can be built with our present technology only by exploiting or utilizing some 10,000 board-feet of timber – the equivalent of 10 to 15 average-size trees – for the average three bedroom home. There is also a considerable demand on our mineral deposits and petroleum reserves, since the same house also includes some 4,800 square feet of drywall and 42 cubic yards of concrete. Thus it becomes apparent that we cannot sustain our present levels of economic growth and also maintain a healthy ecosystem, as Fritjof Capra explains in his book, Uncommon Wisdom (in a presentation of E.F. Schumacher’s Small Is Beautiful):

“Current economic thinking, according to Schumacher, is obsessed with unqualified growth. Economic expansion has become the abiding interest of all modern societies and any growth of GNP is believed to be a good thing. ‘The idea that there could be pathological growth, is to [the modern economist] a perverse idea which must not be allowed to surface.’ Schumacher continues in his scathing critique. He acknowledges that growth is an essential feature of life, but he emphasizes that all economic growth must be qualified. While some things ought to be growing, others ought to be diminishing, he points out, and he observes that ‘it does not require more than a simple act of insight to realize that infinite growth of material consumption in a finite world is an impossibility.’”

Therefore we must learn to reorient our thinking and begin to appreciate the damage we are doing to our fragile ecosystem. We cannot sustain our present levels of “pathological growth” any longer without threatening our future because we live in an enclosed system within which we cannot forever escape the effects of our actions. Many aspects of our society, such as the population explosion and the proliferation of transportation based upon the ridiculously inefficient internal combustion engine, are like cancer cells within a body that rapidly multiply without concern for the overall health of the individual they reside in. We swim in our own soup, so to speak, and the answer is not to somehow do away with technology and go back to living on the land, but to discipline ourselves to live more efficiently with less reliance on non-renewable energy sources. This does not imply that we must become impoverished, as Buckminster Fuller explains in Critical Path:

Therefore, we have the means at our disposal to create the progress, the society, and the standard of living we all desire, but in order to accomplish this we must learn to do what I am going to call ethical science. The ethical scientist is concerned not only with the efficiency of his results within his immediate concerns but also with the overall efficiency of his methods. He strives to maintain a more holistic viewpoint, to continue to produce maximum results but with a minimum of damage to the overall system in both the short run and the long run. Entropy cannot be avoided (at least within our present understanding of thermodynamics), but its effects can be reduced to the minimum if we do not squander our resources.

For this reason it is imperative that we concentrate our energies on the development of alternate sources of energy. Technologies dependent upon the influences of sun, wind, and water derive their power from the effects of outside forces acting on our system. While the earth can in respect to material be considered an enclosed system, in respect to energy exchange it can be considered to be a part of the enclosed system of our solar system. The increase in entropy due to the gradual decline in available energy in our sun is creating pockets of decreasing entropy (or negentropy) on the planets. In other words, as the energy in the sun becomes gradually more disordered, the energy it releases provides the impetus for the planetary systems to become more orderly. The switch to technologies based upon this aspect will give our system the greatest amount of long term viability because we will no longer be spending our reserves of non-renewable energy resources but spending our income.

Just as a human body will grow to an optimum height and weight and then switch to creating an optimum level of health, so too must we retrain our thinking to place more emphasis on the quality of our growth as opposed to the quantity, as Fritjof Capra explains in his book The Turning Point:

“The restoration of balance and flexibility in our economies, technologies, and social institutions will be possible only if it goes hand in hand with a profound change of values. Contrary to conventional beliefs, value systems and ethics are not peripheral to science and technology but constitute their very basis and driving force. Hence the shift to a balanced social and economic system will require a corresponding shift of values – from self-assertion and competition to cooperation and social justice, from expansion to conservation, from material acquisition to inner growth. Those who have begun to make this shift have discovered that it is not restrictive but, on the contrary, liberating and enriching.

Thus we see that the full realization of ecological sustainability will be brought about only by a concerted effort to minimize the effects of entropy. This will only be accomplished by individuals cooperating instead of competing, by maximizing efficiency and quality instead of short term profitability.

While reading through this site, it is likely that you will be deeply affected reading about the serious conditions we have created upon our planet through our lack of environmental sensitivity. Though the statistics and explanations given are somewhat enlightening and educational, one must realize that facts on paper are only a dim shadow of the actual reality. The full truth and impact of the crimes of environmental destruction are not conveyed when described after the fact in books, newspapers, magazine articles, or on television. These modes of communication are obviously somewhat removed from the actual reality, and allow us to be removed as well.

The living facts, the full-force impact of our environmental ignorance is clearly available and crawls under your skin demanding attention when you have have been there, experiencing it first-hand…Hearing the dolphins cry while drowning in fishermen’s nets; Watching the trees go down and viewing the aftermath of a clear-cut; Having a child born with birth defects as a result of a so-called “thoroughly tested” drug, or from exposure to dangerous chemicals; Visiting a slaughterhouse; Breathing in carbon monoxide during a rush-hour traffic jam; Cleaning up crude oil from spills with your own hands and seeing the fatal effects of that atrocity upon wildlife and the environment; Picking up enormous amounts of trash off of our beaches; Or living in a community where it is your family and friends who are the ones having to cope with increased cases of cancer caused by a local industry which is poisoning the soil and water by dumping their toxic wastes.

These are the living experiences of visible, tangible, devastation that speak louder than any printed facts or statistics ever could. These are the raw experiences which have been the catalyst for bringing people to the point where they will no longer tolerate the lies and the blindness of corporate and political greed, or the actions of those who have selfish vested interests and the power to keep major issues which need immediate attention silenced and at the bottom of the priority list. It is the blatant insensitivity to life and our environment exemplified by so many of our political leaders, industries, multi-national corporations, and individual citizens, that motivates people to become passionately and actively involved in taking action against the devastating effects of environmental ignorance. Let us hope that it does not take more of these intense experiences to encourage larger numbers of us to become actively involved. Hopefully, the continuation of human suffering and ecological destruction are not what is required to finally motivate us at a mass level to make our decision to stand up and say together,

“The destruction of human and animal life and the degradation
of our global environment are not acceptable and we will not tolerate this any longer!!!”

It is beyond debate that our mechanistic view of our Earth and everything upon it is primarily responsible for the decline of human health and our global environment. Reducing our beautiful planet and its wonderful array of plant and animal species to nothing more than “resources to be utilized and exploited for human use and profit” is certainly a most dysfunctional outlook, not in any way conducive to creating a healthy world in which to live.

We must drastically shift the ways in which we look at our planet and its role in our continuing evolution, drastically shift the ways in which we view and treat each other as fellow human beings, and finally, we must change the way we view and treat ourselves on a personal level. All of this is interconnected.

The truth of this interconnection becomes apparent when we are able to understand that the conditions existing in our global environment are the external reflection of the same conditions existing within the bodies and minds of humanity. For as we cultivate a deeper respect and sensitivity for the “internal ecology” of our bodies and minds, ceasing to harm and pollute ourselves with processed and refined junk foods, synthetic drugs, and negative toxic attitudes, we will naturally find ourselves capable of sharing that same respect and sensitivity with our fellow human beings and animal species. As we choose to move beyond harming and polluting our own internal body/mind environment, we will arrive at the point of awareness where we will not tolerate or continue to take part in the harming and polluting of our external global environment either.

Our internal processes are inextricably linked to the external; the external is linked to the internal. Everything influences, and is a vital part of everything else. Nothing is separate. Our planet, and everything and everyone upon it, are part of a beautiful, interrelated totality. Whether we choose to accept it or not, all of us are a united global family, mutually dependent upon each other and upon our planet for support and sustenance. We so desperately need to understand this connection in our hearts and minds, for this will be the “awakening factor” that shifts our present direction onto a course that will ultimately lead to a more harmonious and ecologically sustainable future!

Please understand: Our world is in ecological crisis! Each and every one of us continues to take part in perpetuating this crisis as long as we accept it without taking some form of personal action. Please do not fall into the lethargic stupor of inaction, simply allowing the degradation of our environment and our health to continue. Stop buying products from those companies and manufacturers who are perpetuating ecological destruction at any level. Do not give your support to the “profit at the expense of health and environment” attitude!

As you educate yourself and become more aware, you will set an example for others. Our collective numbers will continue to expand, and our voices will continue to grow louder and clearer. Together, we have the power to shape the future of our world and bring the present trends which are damaging our biosphere to a welcome close. It starts with you!

Though the environmental issues presented on this site may seem gloomy and on the negative side, it is important to realize that becoming aware of the “dark side” of a problem or situation is always the first step toward positive solutions!

With love and inspiration,

Douglas, Neil and Taryn

Notes:

1. David E. Fisher, Fire & Ice: The Greenhouse Effect, Ozone Depletion, & Nuclear Winter, (New York: Harper & Row, 1990), pgs. 55-56.

2. Rifkin, Jeremy, Entropy, A New World View, (New York: The Viking Press, 1980), pg. 180.

3. Soviero, Marcelle M., “The Recycled House”, Popular Science, April 1991, pg. 69.

4. Capra, Fritjof, Uncommon Wisdom: Conversations With Remarkable People, (New York: Bantam, 1988), pg. 210.

5. Fuller, Buckminster, Critical Path, (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1981), pg. xxv.

6. Capra, Fritjof, The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture, (New York: Bantam Books, 1982), pg. 397.